Phil Sears/The Associated PressFlorida State quarterback E.J. Manuel looks for a receiver against Charleston Southern in the second quarter Sept. 10 in Tallahassee, Fla.

The top-ranked Sooners are visiting Tallahassee, where the Seminoles have a garnet-and-golden opportunity to make themselves relevant again on the national scene. Saturday's winner might face no tougher test en route to this season's title game. Oklahoma certainly won't cruise as it did last year in Norman, 47-17, because the Seminoles are improved and the Sooners usually struggle away from home. That has the makings of doozy.

Cue the cheap jokes. It's the "Ineligibowl" as the commemorative T-shirts on sale at AllCanes near the Coral Gables campus state. "Tressel Tattoo & Pawn" reads another. In reality, there are seven players -- three Buckeyes and four Hurricanes -- having to sit out this game because of NCAA infractions. Miami gets quarterback Jacory Harris back, but he threw four interceptions last year in Columbus.

For the first nine years of SEC division play, either Florida or Tennessee won the confernce's East title. Although the Gators mostly held up their end through the past decade (Thank you, Tim Tebow), the Vols haven't been national contenders in a decade. Now under a pair of Nick Saban acolytes, Derek Dooley at Tennessee and Will Muschamp at Florida, they're on their way back. The Vols, who have lost six in a row to the Gators, have more firepower than Florida. Still, this is The Swamp.

The Huskies have 15 starters returning from a team that beat the Cornhuskers 19-7 in last season's Holiday Bowl, avenging a 56-21 rout earlier in the season. In contrast, Nebraska has only 12 returning starters and needed a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to secure last week's victory against Fresno State. And yet, the Huskers are favored by 17? Nebraska has been known to lay early-season eggs.

The Knights and the Panthers are more likely to wind up in the New Orleans Bowl than the Sugar Bowl, much less the BCS championship game, but they are the best chance for a Conference USA or Sun Belt team to make the BCS breakthrough since Tulane in 1998. FIU has star sophomore defensive end Isame Faciane, who prepped at Salmen. To get to a BCS bowl, the winner will have to go undefeated and have someone knock off Boise State. Hey, it could happen.